Optimism (Sequel to Why Did This Go So Wrong?)
by ScarletWitch7
Summary: Peter is dealing with his injury with great optimism, but Tony is still worried about him. Wanda and Peter have become great friends over the month since Peter woke up, and Peter seems to be fine. But is he? When Peter suddenly has seizure in the middle of the day, the team has to race him to the med-bay to heal. After that, they find out something no one wants to hear.
1. Chapter 1

The team was sitting in the huge living room of the tower, chatting quietly with one another.

Well, not the whole team.

Bruce was out on vacation (the guy really needed a break) in Aruba, with no stress and no worries.

Vision was who knows where (they should really keep track of the weird robot, but nobody really wanted to, he would be fine.)

Thor was in Asgard, where he belonged.

Thankfully, nothing had happened when they had left, at least, not yet.

Clint and Natasha were having a heated debate on whether they should test out Natasha's new tasers on Clint. (Natasha said yes, Clint said no.)

Tony was embarrassing Steve about the Captain America PSAs shown at Peter's school.

Sam and Rhodey were talking about their military experiences.

It was a normal day at the tower.

Peter's injury didn't seem to affect him much at all.

He was still the happy-go-lucky kid that he had been before the battle.

The only difference was that now, Peter couldn't walk.

Wanda and Peter were having fun playing Go Fish.

Peter was losing terribly.

"I swear Wanda, you're reading my mind."

"I'm actually not, you would see my eyes glowing. I think you're just not good at this game, Peter." Wanda replied teasingly, laughing at Peter's mock hurt.

"Hmmph. After this we're switching to Yahtzee. You can't possibly guess then."

"True."

Peter shifted and grimaced.

"Are you okay?" Wanda asked worriedly, tensing up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just shifted my back weird." Peter replied.

From what Wanda could tell, it was the truth.

She still didn't fully relax.

They finished their game of Go Fish.

Wanda was the ultimate winner.

Peter didn't even come close.

The rest of the team wasn't paying attention to the two teens, glancing over every once in a while to check if they were okay.

Wanda stood up and walked to the game bin to get Yahtzee, excited to see if she could beat Peter.

A small pained grunt sounded behind her, too quiet for anyone else to hear.

It was Peter.

Wanda dropped the game and rushed back to Peter, who was still sitting up straight.

His eyes were panicked.

"What's wrong?"

Peter's breathing was labored and he trembled.

"Are you okay?"

Peter shook his head.

Suddenly, his eyes rolled back.

He started shaking.

Oh my god, he was having a seizure.

"HELP!" Wanda screamed, her voice terrified as she watched her friend jerk.

"OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED?!" Tony yelled scrambling to run over to Peter and Wanda.

Natasha sprang into action, vaulting over the couch to the table the teens were sitting at.

She landed and carefully eased Peter into the recovery position.

Tony crouched down beside her, his face scared.

"Wanda, I need you to use your powers and make sure he doesn't hurt himself. I'm calling Bruce to see if he can get over here ASAP. He's the only one that knows Peter's injury and powers well enough to treat him." Natasha commanded, her voice shaking slightly at the sight of the seizing teenager.

"Okay... Okay." Wanda said, her voice trembling and small.

'Peter will be okay. Peter will be okay', she repeated to herself.

'He has to be okay.'


	2. Chapter 2

Peter had been feeling off all week, but today was the worst.

He didn't want to upset anyone, so he didn't mention it.

It was probably just his spidey-sense acting up.

Other than that, he was having a great day.

Everyone in the tower was having fun playing games or talking, and Peter and Wanda were playing Go Fish.

Peter was losing.

Again.

Wanda was such a great guesser, and she always got his cards.

"I swear Wanda, you're reading my mind." Peter was joking, of course. He would've seen her eyes glow.

As Wanda argued against him, his head started to hurt.

He ignored it, retorting teasingly.

Peter shifted and grimaced.

He had moved his back weird, but that wasn't what had hurt.

His head was killing him.

"Are you okay?" Wanda's voice was worried. She sounded upset.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just shifted my back weird." Peter replied.

It was the truth.

Not the whole truth, but at least he wasn't lying.

They finished their game.

Wanda went to go get Yahtzee, leaving Peter alone at the table.

That's when he noticed something was seriously wrong with him.

He started to feel very nauseous.

Peter started trembling uncontrollably.

He made a small noise of pain.

Wanda whipped around and saw him trembling.

He looked at her in panic, the pain in his head slowly getting worse.

"What's wrong?"

Peter couldn't answer. His jaw was clenched shut and his breathing was labored.

"Are you okay?"

Peter managed to shake his head before his mind exploded in pain.

He jerked, not in control of his body.

He couldn't think.

He heard Wanda scream and heard someone run towards him.

He felt someone move him towards the ground.

He felt Wanda hold him down with her magic.

After what felt like an eternity, he passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

Bruce ran into the room, having been picked up by one of Tony's suits and rushed to the tower.

"We need to get him stabilized so I can do scans!"

Wanda lifted Peter gently into the air using her telekinesis to keep him steady.

Her eyes were filled with tears and she was trembling, but everyone could tell that she was trying to be strong for the team.

Peter's seizures had lessened in intensity, but he was still shaking.

"Why is it lasting so long? It's been a long time, well at least for a seizure." Natasha asked.

Her eyes were like steel, and the only thing giving away her worry was her slightly trembling lower lip.

Bruce replied calmly, explaining how Peter's powers and senses were affecting his brain during the seizure. "I won't know what caused the seizure until I see his scans."

Wanda placed Peter on the hospital bed.

He had stopped shaking but was still trembling.

Bruce inserted an I.V with fluids and sedatives that would keep Peter from waking up before they knew what was wrong.

They had to wait a day before it was deemed safe to perform the scans.

After the scans came in, Bruce gathered the team in the living room.

The Avengers waited with bated breath for the news.

Tony, Wanda, and Natasha were the most worried.

"So, I have good and bad news. Peter isn't at risk of having another seizure, which is great." Bruce began.

Wanda released her breath in relief.

She didn't want to go through the pain of seeing Peter jerk helplessly during a long seizure.

"The bad news is, his seizure revealed something new about his heart and brain damage from the initial shock. He has about fifteen years left to live, and if by some sort of miracle his heart and brain don't fail after that, he'll still only live until his mid-thirties." Bruce said solemnly.

The team was frozen in their seats.

Well, except for Wanda.

She ran.

She couldn't help it.

Wanda ran to the training area, sitting in the middle of it.

She sobbed for hours before someone finally found her.

Tony and Natasha didn't follow Wanda.

At least, not right away.

They waited about ten minutes before finally realizing that the teenager needed someone with her.

After all, her best friend was dying.

It took three hours to comb the whole tower looking for her.

Tony and Natasha came in to the training room to see Wanda sitting numbly in the middle of the room with a dark red force field thrown up around her.

She was trembling, and her eyes were unfocused, as if she was living a nightmare.

Nat walked slowly towards her.

She could see that the girl was having a panic attack.

She made it to about five feet from the edge of the scarlet dome before Wanda shrieked and Natasha was thrown against the wall by her powers.

BOOM.

Natasha hit the wall with a thud.

The force field glowed a bright red and looked to grow thicker.

"Nat, you okay?" Tony asked in a low voice, not wanting to frighten the panicking girl in front of him any more than she already was.

He had dealt with anxiety attacks and panic attacks before.

He had never had one this bad.

"Yeah, I'm just a little beaten up. I don't think she meant to hurt me, just to get me away from her." Natasha said in the same tone of voice.

Wanda's eyes were shining scarlet, and it seemed that she was unintentionally using her powers on herself.

Suddenly, her irises flashed the same red as her force field, and Tony and Natasha were plunged into her world.

It was dark.

Pietro and Peter were standing in front of them, alive.

They were tied up, with guns pointed at their heads.

"CHOOSE!" A voice boomed from the shadows.

Natasha turned and saw Wanda next to her.

Wanda didn't turn and look at her.

"I can't! Please!" Wanda screamed, her voice full of tears.

"Fine." The guns cocked.

Natasha turned her head. She knew what was about to happen.

Tony looked at her, his eyes sad, like he'd had this dream before with different people.

"NO!" Wanda shrieked, her voice full of pain.

Suddenly, the bonds holding Pietro and Peter were gone.

The guns disappeared in a flash of scarlet light.

Natasha looked at Tony in surprise.

Wanda looked relieved.

Pietro walked forward.

He suddenly stumbled.

His body was full of bullet holes.

Pietro fell to the floor, dead.

Natasha gasped. This was how Pietro had died two years before.

Wanda screamed.

Tony tried moving towards her, but his feet were held in place. He couldn't move.

Peter stopped walking towards Wanda.

He clutched his chest in agony and collapsed.

His head lolled to the side.

Peter was also dead.

This time both Tony and Wanda screamed.

"PETER!" Tony yelled. This was now his nightmare as well.

Natasha tried not to cry.

The poor teenage girl was crumpled on the floor, sobbing.

She shouldn't have to go through this pain.

She was a kid. Just like Peter.

Natasha and Tony were suddenly transported back to the real world.

Wanda had passed out.

Natasha walked to her and carried her out of the room.

Why did this go so wrong?


	4. Chapter 4

  
Chapter Text

The steady beeping of a heart rate monitor pulled Peter from his dreamless sleep.

He felt an I.V poking his arm.

'What happened to me?' Peter thought groggily.

All he could remember was Wanda's terrified scream and red swirls all around him.

And pain.

Lots of pain.

He cracked open his eyes to see the clear glass walls of the med room.

Tony was next to him, fast asleep on the armrest of his chair.

Natasha was also there, reading a book.

She hadn't noticed him yet.

'Where's Wanda?' He thought, surprised to not see her next to him.

They were best friends, after all.

Peter quietly turned his head to see Wanda unconscious in another hospital bed.

He sat up suddenly.

Tony startled, accidentally banging his head on the wall behind him.

Natasha just closed her book calmly, marking it and staring at Peter.

"How are you?"

Peter noticed red rims around her eyes, almost as if-

No.

Nat didn't cry.

Did she?

Tony's eyes were puffy and red.

He looked exhausted.

"What happened? Is Wanda okay?"

It was Tony who replied.

"You had a seizure, Peter. She had a panic attack. She's not dealing with it too well." His voice was rough and tired.

"Dealing with what?" Peter was confused.

He remembered red magic.

He assumed that was Wanda, so how had she lifted him up if she had been in the middle of a panic attack?

"Peter..." Tony began reluctantly, as if he didn't want to tell Peter something.

Nat interrupted.

"The seizure revealed something we didn't see before." Natasha paused. "Peter, you have 15 years to live. I'm so sorry, but the shock severely damaged your heart and brain. That's why Wanda panicked and passed out. She doesn't want to lose you. Nobody does."

Peter sat quietly for a moment in shock.

After about a minute, he spoke up, surprising even Natasha.

"It's okay. We still have a few years together." Peter's voice was a little shaky, but he kept speaking. "I chose this, guys. I didn't think I was going to live when I jumped in front of Tony and took the blast. You guys did the best you could, and I thank you for that."

Tony was crying again.

"Just promise me one thing, Tony."

Tony looked up. "Anything, kid."

"Stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault."

"Okay, kid." Tony answered, his voice choked.

Natasha wouldn't have owned up to it, but a tear ran down her face as well.

Tony hugged Peter close to his chest.

"You are so strong kid."

They stayed like that for an hour before Peter finally fell asleep.

Two weeks later...

"Alright guys, get in position." Peter whispered into the comms.

Tony, Nat and Wanda made affirmative noises.

"He's coming down the hall towards the kitchen, just like we thought. Tony, get the camera ready." Peter said.

Tony scoffed. "The camera's been ready since it was made, Peter. F.R.I.D.A.Y is recording."

"Oh. Right." Peter said, his face glowing red.

Natasha's irritated voice rang through the comms.

"Get ready and stop talking, he's almost here!"

"Okay, okay. Ready in three, two, one... mission is go!" Tony said sarcastically.

Peter was in the hallway to the kitchen.

Clint turned the corner and waved.

"Whatcha doing Peter?" He asked, looking around him.

"Give us the signal when he's there, Peter."

Peter knew the signal well. It had to be a conversational piece that wasn't suspicious.

"How's your morning going?" Peter asked.

"GO!" Wanda jumped out from the closet and used her telekinesis to stop Clint in his tracks.

"What the heck Wanda?" Clint half-shouted in surprise.

Suddenly, Natasha jumped down from the vents above Clint.

She had her new taser.

"No! Nat! N-"

Natasha used the taser.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Clint fell to the ground, paralyzed.

Peter was hunched over in his wheelchair laughing at Clint's frozen expression of indignance and surprise.

Wanda stopped using her powers and doubled over, laughing so hard she was crying.

Nat allowed a smile to show. Inside, she was laughing just as hard as the others.

Tony clapped over the comms. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., that's a wrap!"

Wanda high fived Peter, still laughing with tears in her eyes.

The plan had worked.

The next day...

The video was shown to the team.

There were good reactions, with Steve spitting out his coffee and Sam laughing so hard he fell off his chair. Bucky ended up asking Sam if he was okay, and Sam punched him in the stomach. As a joke, of course.

Tony and Peter hacked into Clint's personal TV and played the prank video on a loop.

Clint was furious. He stormed into the lab, demanding that they stop.

"Stop what?" Peter asked innocently, a smile on his face.

Clint just turned around and hit the keypad, turning off the lights in the lab. He then left, leaving Peter in the dark.

Peter just sighed and told F.R.I.D.A.Y. to turn the lights back on.

A faint cry of "COME ON! WHY CAN'T I PRANK PEOPLE TOO!" from Clint echoed throughout the halls when he saw the lights on in the lab.

Peter laughed and wheeled himself to the nearby training room, where Wanda and Steve were sparring.

Wanda had Steve floating in the air, immobilized.

Steve had a look of defeat on his face, and Wanda wore a smug smile.

Peter later joined them, firing webs from his wheel chair at Steve and Wanda.

It would be a great next fifteen years, he decided.

But what would happen if their time was cut short?

To be continued...


End file.
